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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Rhondi from Rose Colored Glasses is having the second annual Porch Party! After you have spent some time with me, you can go to Rhondi's blog and get linked up to all of the other beautiful porch parties around the world!

I wanted to greet you at my front gate, so we could stroll through my courtyard and enjoy the view before heading to my porch. Please click on any picture to enlarge for detail.

All of my roses and lavender are in bloom. Can you smell their sweet scent?

I will have to have you back for dinner al fresco some night. We can even light a fire in the fireplace, because evenings are always cool in the mountains.

We are almost there. Now, I don't have a "porch" so I am really having a deck party.

I love the way the sun filters through the deck railings across these vintage watering cans.

Here we are. There are seats in the sun and in the shade. Take your pick!

After I show you around, I will run inside and get some refreshments. When I do, you might want to browse through this beautiful book.

I made some mosaic coasters for my porch this year. Look closely. The bases are clay saucers, white washed.

Remember the planter I painted a few posts back? Here it is.

My favorite part of my deck is this view...

Now, sit and relax. I will run inside and get our refreshments. Then when we are finished, you can visit all of my other friends porch parties.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

When I woke up today it was raining. A steady drenching rain. I spent the morning and most of the afternoon in my studio working on mosaics. Here is the rainy day view out of my studio window. Click the picture to enlarge and you can see the fog drifting over the rainy mountain top.

At 2:30, I did what any smart gal would do on a rainy afternoon....I made a pot of coffee, cut a slice of fresh, homemade banana bread and grabbed one of my favorite magazines.

I spent the next half hour relaxing and enjoyed the rain.Whether it is rainy or sunny at your home today, I hope you take some time to just enjoy the day.Welcome Home,Penny

Monday, May 25, 2009

This corner of my kitchen has always been the place where I have a basket of fresh tomatoes and garlic, usually some fresh flowers or a planter of herbs. It always ended up looking a little messy and scattered.

I found this WONDERFUL Lazy Susan that is made from a vintage lid to a French wine barrel. It fits this space perfectly and has added another little touch of France to my Country French Home. You can click the pictures to enlarge for detail.

Here is a look at the Lazy Susan with out the tomatoes etc on top. I love the RED "R" on it!

A close up of the French engraving...

It is the perfect accent piece! I can also use this on the dining table, the coffee table when I am serving in my living room and more. I LOVE IT!

Edited to add: Several of you asked where I bought this. I bought it from a little wine and gourmet shop in my town called Rabbit and Co. They don't have a website and this was the only one they had.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Remember these beautiful yellow flowers I posted about here on May 14th (10 days ago)? They lasted a long time!Sadly the leaves started to shrivel and look terrible. But the flowers still were beautiful.

So today, I stripped the leaves off the stems and trimmed about 6 inches off the stems.

Now the bouquet is beautiful all over again! I wonder how much longer they will last.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Here is a fun, semi easy project created with a left over, old dirty plastic window box insert. But, if you are a perfectionist, you might not want to try this the way I did it-lol!

First I scrubbed the container with soapy water and let dry completely. Then I applied blue painters tape, where I wanted white stripes to appear. To get a semi even distance between stripes, I applied two small pieces of painters tape between my stripes. See picture below.

Now, I didn't measure the circumference and divide to get it totally even....I just winged it. After the stripes were taped down all the way around, I removed the spacing pieces of tape. See below.

Because this container is plastic, I bought paint made specifically for plastic.

I sprayed two light coats all around. Then I removed the blue painters tape, when it was dry.

If you click on the pictures to enlarge, you will see there was a raised design on the planter box. The red paint leaked through the sides of the tape where there were raised edges. But I figure, when the petunias and blue daze start trailing in the next week, the little oops parts will be covered with pretty flowers.

This is going on my front porch, and I will show you where on June 1st when I participate in Rhondi's Porch Party!

I have had a lot of people ask me how I came up with the name of my mosaic studio, Lavender Hill Studio.I love Lavender! We plant it all around our gardens. I took this picture yesterday afternoon in my front courtyard. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

We live on a mountain ridge, looking at a mountain peak... That is where the Hill part comes in.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Continuing yesterdays post.....Here are a few more of my Sensibly Chic versions of the more expensive Pierre Deux pieces (you can order the free catalog here).

My original oil painting, of yellow flowers in a copper vase, purchased at an antique store 6 years ago for $25.00

Pierre Deux Flowers in a Copper Vase Giclee. $525

My iron scroll chandelier, purchased from Lowe's 4 years ago for $125

Pierre Deux Iron Scroll Chandelier $995

Vintage bird prints purchase on Ebay of $5.99 each, waiting to be framed. I will purchase ready made frames and matting from Michael's for about $20.00 per print.

Pierre Deux Bird Lithographs. $ 175 EACH

My red toile memo board. Purchase on ebay for $23.99

Pierre Deux Red Toile Memo board. $195

So, if you find a look that you love, but the price is way too high hunt around Ebay, thrift stores, Target, Lowe's....you will be able to recreate the look for a lot less. Don't you love saving money?

Remember the HGTV show called Sensibly Chic? They took a $30,000 designer room and recreated it for about $2500. Did you think that they had some kind of special sources to do that?

Anyone can do it. Really! One of my favorite design catalogs is Pierre Deux. It is filled with beautiful French Country furniture and accessories. I use the catalog as a decorator magazine. You can order the free catalog here. Here are just a few of my "Sensibly Chic" versions of the original Pierre Deux item